Tag Archives: process

I may not have been posting as often as I did when I started this challenge, but I think I have been doing pretty ok. My plate of regular life is starting to get really full, and I have a ton of things to find balance with. But I guess that is part of my challenge, perhaps the next 30 days will be a different perspective of One a Day. I’m still thinking creative moments.. but maybe not a start one in a day and finish one in a day.. maybe just the documentation of the days creative moment… What are your thoughts?

Day 26 – Acrylic on cradle panel. I wanted to play with the idea of grouping the critters. This mini has given me a few ideas that I will play with soon.

Day 27 – Watercolour pencil and water soluble graphite. Fun Fun Fun! A softer look for one of the critters.

Day 28 – Acrylic gouache on decorative paper, with shimmer… Yes I really do like the shimmer! It’s a funny product that requires the viewer to view the work at different angles to get the whole picture, and it’s eludes to movement. I also love how each time you try to document it the image changes because of the shimmer… an interesting thing to play on.

Day 29 – I am in love with the new critter, and I am so very happy with my watercolours right now. But that could be do to the size of these images. 6-7 inches in diameter. Real mini works,equal a really nice time to play with watercolour.

So this is what I have been up to, and I am super excited to share with you what happens this Studio Friday. A lot of blocks are ready to go for the print marathon.

It’s been a few days, and although I have not been post images any where, I have been finding creative moments. My one a days have been consumed with preparation for a print a thong I am hoping to have this Friday. I have been carving lino blocks that I hope to print in layers, as well as tearing down paper for said project etc. My side project has been needing my attention, as I am in the silkscreen phase of that project. But in the middle of it all I have also been spending some time with my knitting, yes I am learning to knit. The last few days I have been knitting and un-knitting a scarp, and trying to fix pair of miss shaped leg warmers that I made earlier this month.

So here goes the pics..

Hopefully I will write sooner. Until Next Time, Have Happy Creative Moments! Trina

On a side note here is a call to artists that you may or may not be interested in.

Call for Artists

The North Vancouver Community Arts Council is seeking artists working in 2D and 3D for a themed exhibition called “Recycle Art” (TBA).

April 11 – May 10, 2014

CityScape Community Art Space

This exhibition will celebrate the creation of art made by recycling materials. We are looking for artists who have found inspiration from industrial, consumer, found or everyday materials that are no longer desired, needed or can fulfill its original purpose. We encourage innovative and creative “recycle art” varied in subject and style made from diverse and alternative mediums.

Submission must include:

·Up to 6 printed photographs or digital images on disk or USB of completed available artwork,labeledwith title, size and medium.

· A list of work including thumbnail images of work, title, size, medium and price.

·75% of each artwork must be made from recycled materials (materials re-purposed from its original use or intention)

The North Shore Art Crawl is a free community arts festival that celebrates the creative energy of our local artists and enables cultural vitality. Thanks to the hard work of Norman Vipond and Sandrine Pelissier, the NS Art Crawl has become a key event in the cultural calendar of the North Shore. The NVCAC is taking on the organization of the event for the first time in 2014, building on the strong foundation created by Norman and Sandrine.

Step 2: Upload Artist Images – these will be used to create online profiles for each registered artist participant. (You can upload up to 3 images, maximum 1MB each.)

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS – Saturday, March 8, 2014

All registered artists will be listed in the North Shore Art Crawl brochure by location. 15,000 brochures will be widely distributed throughout the Lower Mainland to market the event, in addition to colour posters, newspaper ads, press releases and social media campaigns. Each participant will be recognized on the North Shore Art Crawl website with artist profiles, gallery images, a link to their website and on a map. Lawn signs are also available for $10 each, on the registration form.

Back to work, the weekend is over and the ideas are flowing. Why does that happen when your busy working, or have other commitments, creativity consumes your mind. Such is life, always motoring around looking for adventure.

Day 19 – Inspired by Artist Brandy Masch I decided that I needed to do a little baking. Yep if you have been following the #oneaday or the #opus6x6 on Twitter or Instagram you know exactly why I needed to bake. So here is it my Day 19, chocolate caramel tarts!

Now just in case my baking does not count as my Creative moments I did make a Sweethearts card that may or may not go along with the tarts.

I also wanted to take a moment and share with you the final crackle of Day 9’s evolution.

After the crackle I did a drawing in pencil… but it didn’t work out as I couldn’t see the graphite so I had to commit, and white coloured pencil was that moment.

I didn’t love the strips and so I decided to cover them up. But this time I went for a white wash…. less commitment right?

A slow evolution, yep this is my way of not committing to my painting.. which is funny because who am I trying to fool. Every mark with paint is a creative commitment.

Yep I slowly added green… and then a little more.. and slowly I felt like my shapes were becoming my critter.

Finally I think I have found the finish… and I am still in love with the crackle. The evolution is done… for now…… What are your thoughts?

An amazing evening, with even more amazing artists! Everyone warmed my heart, it was and is such an honor to be apart of this event, not to mention being apart of Opus Kelowna. I had a blast, maybe one beer to many, but I encourage you to stop by the art gallery and check the show out or look it up on line and see the amazing online catalog that has been created. You will not be disappointed.

Even amidst the beer, and people, and late night I still worked out a one a day…. I’m not sure how.. but here it is.

Day 17 – a simple pink watercolour sphere embraced by a mystery critter.

Day 18 – I must admit the residue of beer seems to linger a lot longer as I get older. Next time around I will have to make a note to stop at one. After a lot of water, rest, and more water, I found a some creative moments. It seems that me and my watercolours go hand in hand for these one a day challenges, and I am starting to enjoy the small scale, at last. However that being said, it could all change by tomorrows one a day. Today I decided to create a work that reflected the mild January weather we’ve been having here, a couple of spring blooms.

These flowers may also represent my urge for youthfulness, the spring chicken… an age when the mild hangover three beer gave would have been gone first thing in the day.

Today was a busy day full of family and mini tasks. Although I did accomplish a lot today, I didn’t manage to carve out time to begin to tackle the last crackle project I started the other day. Sometime I just have to be happy with getting a little art in everyday. For today, Day 11 I did manage to create another little critter, this one is a boxed creature from the sea. A coloured pencil sketch that I hope to work into a larger painting, or monotype soon.

Ten days already! What a great 2014 it has been so far! I think I may start to do the blog post the morning after my challenge day. Ie: Day 11 will be post the morning of Day 12. That way I can take a better picture of the work I’m showing so the details and the subtleties are clear, as it may spark an idea for your own practice. But until then night seems to be the best time to write, so evening posts it is for now.

I am happy to say Day 7 is finally finished. I wasn’t up to really working the image as I felt that it was pretty much finished, but I did outline the image to give it a more illustrative look, as well as help define certain areas. Let me know what you think.

Day 9 has cracked! The black gelatinous mass has given way to the shimmer. Isn’t it incredible how much this image has changed! I knew that it would change, but not like this. It is a wonderful and great surprise! I haven’t began to add to this image yet, but I’m think a simple white wash to establish an emerging creature or just a simple graphite drawing… I should have something for this soon, but until then here it is. Since shimmery things look best in person because they change with the movement of light, this is the best photo I could get. I think it still looks pretty cool!

Day 10 is just a simple sketch book study for another gelli squid like creature. I am just working out ideas for both the watercolour ground and a couple of block prints. I think I’m getting close to a new series of works! Which is very exciting because I see these images as starting to get large, which is great as I have been working quite small for sometime and need to challenge myself with size.

I just love to document a work of art as it evolves. Not only is it amazing to watch the evolution, but it also reveals something about our creative thought process. And each time you do one, or watch another artists process, each of us do it in a different way. I have been having so much fun with my mini works, and am in love with the images I am revisiting. Not to mention that I am trying out products that I wouldn’t normally give a second thought to. Today I started to think about different surfaces to use,and it boils down to: My wheels are turning!

The Shimmer adventure; Day 7 spilling into Day 8 and Day 9 is here! With one more day to go, I am not sure what I want to do next. That’s the fun part anything goes with the challenge to push your creative self.

It’s hard to believe how much this critter has changed in just one day. Even the crackle… WOW! I really like how the crackle has worked with my critter, just giving it the right amount of texture to allude to its deep water incrustations. So much fun, and I continued to work in more shimmer… To much?

But before I got to part three of Day 7, I did hang out with my sketch book and work on a drawing that may become a Day 10 block print… still not sure as I have this Daniel Smith Watercolour ground that I am anxious to try. My Artist friend Brandy Masch uses this product.. and I like how the watercolour sits on/in it so I think I should give it a go. So Thank you Brandy for the inspiration, to try something new.

But until I make up my mind to carve or paint, I still had to do an actual Day 9… So here it is!

A black gelatinous mass of awesome Kroma Crackle! Yep I mixed it with carbon black, and the under painting may or may not be shimmer…. As I write this it has begun to crack, and I am excited to embark on another evolving creative process. Although I have some ideas on what I would like to do… you’ll just have to wait…….

I can hardly believe I was excited to watch paint dry. Yes crackle paint is actually exciting, and this crackle paint takes a few days to fully cure so I have allowed myself two more days of alterations. The product I am using is from a local company in Vancouver BC. They make and sell their paint right in the heart of Granville Island. Here is there link if you are interested in learning more about them, or want to get your hands on some of their product to try for yourself! http://www.kromaacrylics.com/ They also make a full line of great acrylic paints.

For today creative project I did a simple line drawing, and will continue to develop this image over the next two days. I visited these types of critters many years ago and was surprised that I was drawn to draw them again. I think you will be seeing more of these types of whimsical critters in my future works. I just love how yesterday gold and interference violet are twinkling through the cracks that have already started to form. I also like the milky quality that was left behind in the blue area… I am not sure if that will stay or change…. It’s all a mystery…two more days!

Wow! I have neglected my post for sometime. Where to start…. Well I did a tone of canning in early fall, and I got a dehydrator so you can only image how many things I tested out in that. And yes they are worth it! Life was such a whirl wind so many things to do, and so much art to see and create. Art walk was amazing! My studio mates and I did it as a group and we had so much fun, a must do for next year. I did a few other really really great artisan shows, they are always such a treat, and I am always so thankful to be apart of them. Studio 113 had their annual art show and that was a blast. A live band, lots of wine, what else could we ask for.

Check them out and let me know what you think. Feed back is always appreciated.

So now that we are at the start of 2014 I have started a few new challenges/goals, that I hope will last the year.

Goal Number 1: Do at least a one art work a day!

A few artists and I have decided to challenge our selves to create at least one 6×6 art work a day. They do not need to be masterpieces just a creative something to get the ideas flowing. To play/learn about art supplies and how they can and cannot work together. So far so good. You can check in on us via Instagram & Twitter by searching #opus6x6, or, #oneaday If you and I are FB Friends then just check out my One a day photo album.

Goal Number 2: A mini blog everyday… so that means not only will you be able to see my ‘one a day’, but you’ll get to read about the process, etc. Something that I am not doing on Twitter, or FB. Something I hope you will not only enjoy but also be inspired by.

So to catch you up here is what I have created so far:

Day 1: Facing the 365 days of this challenge, Yikes! Needles to say I was feeling over whelmed, so day one is a picture of the supplies I was going to begin my journey with. My trusted travel companion, the watercolours.

Day 2: A quick watercolour sketch to try and capture one of the amazing views during our snowmobile / ice fishing day trip. Each turn there and back was just breath taking.

Day 3: Still captured in my memories of the snowy trip, I want to keep it simple and play with the idea of the square. As I have certain reservations about the square. The shape is challenge all on it’s own for this lady. So here is it a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired snowflake.

Day 4: Well I had all day to think and create this work. I still had uncertainties about the square so instead I used a circle. Beginning with a little watercolour, and detailing with a lot of coloured pencil a critter emerged. I based this image off of an old document in a sailors log about a sea creature, and here is my whimsical version of that.

Day 5: The day before I had went for a pedal break (yes in January you can still ride your bike) and the sunset was just magnificent so instead of taking a picture it did this little square by memory of how those moments struck me. Again I find myself digging in my pencil box. There is just something about coloured pencil, but this time instead of watercolour I used black ink.

Day 6: I wasn’t finished with this sunset, it was just not enough luminosity in it. So I tried again, but with a lot of improvisation. I added shimmer, which by the way is not something that has ever struck my fancy. But this is a challenge and an opportunity to allow myself to play, so why not. Turns out I really like shimmer… and am interested in figuring out how to use it more often. This mini was created with iridescent gold, interference violet and green-blue, and willow charcoal. Lots of fun, and will most likely do this style of mixed media again.

Today, Day 7: Well the shimmer adventure is not over with me. I did another circle, and more water, but this time I added just a bit of shimmer. This mini work will be a two or more day work, because this one is now covered with a Kroma crackle medium. I hope to draw on before the crackle is fully dry, as I read on the tube it can take up to three days to fully crack. Image what the drawn/painted element on the surface will look like in the end.

Thanks for having a read, and know that they will be shorter after today.

I thought it was time I got caught up. Where to start…. You might remember the posts I send out about up coming art shows that you could maybe challenge yourself with and enter? Well I did exactly that, I send works out into the big world and hoped for the best. Now I was not accepting into every one of the shows I applied for, but with effort and a new sense of what it means to be brave I did get into Two!

Yes it is true this Thursday April 4th 7-9pm You can see two of my very new and hot off the press monotypes on display in what I think to be amazing frames, that I put together myself! I think they look good and the owner of Sopa Art Gallery did too! The two images can be found in Sopa’s annual U8 show. This show will have over 40 artists and 400 works of art all for under $800. To learn more about this amazing art gallery, or how to get involved for next year check out their web page.

For those of you whom can not make it to the show for various reasons here they are:

The second show…… Yep you got it the Okanagan Erotic Art Show. Just wild, you never know what the jury is going to pick and well they pick me to be one of the artists to show in this years event. The links for this show, and information about the event which happens this summer are in the “Unspoken Secrets” Blog. I was really surprised I had created a few over the top girly images that were quit abstract and thought at the last day… I just gotta go for it!

Here they are!

Out side of my monotype madness, I have actually been finding time to work on my painting skills. I must confess I did take a class, and at first it was a bit nerve racking, but I found it so very helpful. The painting below was created with the same techniques we did our class, well almost, I did this one in full colour. I challenged my colour mixing abilities, and I think I did a’ok. I choose to re due the same type of painting to reinforce what I had learned in the class. Not only did I learn something new, I retained most of what I was taught… now I have to apply those same concepts to create my critters.

So this is what I have been up to all winter. I hope to have a few new paints done very soon, and also plan on posting more often.

Be Brave! and you will always learn something.

Trina

Perhaps you to will consider taking a class, that is if you were having as much trouble as I was, other wise keep on painting on!